Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

Smoking in public areas where children are present will soon be outlawed across France, marking a significant step in the nation’s ongoing battle against tobacco use, Health Minister Catherine Vautrin announced Thursday. Beginning July 1, lighting a cigarette will be prohibited in parks, beaches, bus stops, outside schools, public gardens, and at sporting events. The move, aimed at protecting children from secondhand smoke, comes with a €135 ($154) fine for violators. “Tobacco must disappear where there are children,” Vautrin said in an interview with Ouest-France. “The freedom to smoke must end where the freedom of children to breathe fresh air…

Bernard Kerik, the hard-charging former NYPD commissioner who rose to national prominence for his leadership during the September 11 attacks, died Thursday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital after a battle with cardiac disease. He was 69 and surrounded by family and close friends at the time of his passing. Kerik’s life was marked by triumphs, tribulations, and unwavering dedication to public service. Appointed by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 2000, Kerik led the NYPD during one of its most pivotal eras, overseeing a dramatic 63% drop in violent crime and guiding the city through the darkest hours of 9/11. Often dubbed the…

Six soldiers have been killed in Michoacán’s cartel bomb attack, while two others were injured late Tuesday in Mexico’s western Michoacán state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday that Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas’ Gaza chief and younger brother of slain leader Yahya Sinwar, has been killed in an Israeli military operation.

A 64-year-old man remains missing after a massive chunk of the Birch Glacier collapsed Wednesday, triggering a devastating rock and ice landslide that buried much of the Alpine village of Blatten in Switzerland’s southern Lötschental valley. Authorities had preemptively evacuated the village earlier this month amid growing fears the glacier was unstable. Despite the precautionary measures, the destruction left behind is immense. State Councillor Stéphane Ganzer told Radio Télévision Suisse that 90% of the village has been destroyed. “An unbelievable amount of material thundered down into the valley,” said Matthias Ebener, a spokesperson for local authorities, as quoted by Reuters.…

Mary Trump, psychologist and niece of U.S. President Donald Trump, has launched a fresh attack on her uncle, describing him as “unevolved,” “cruel,” and “incapable of forming close relationships” during an appearance at the Hay Festival in Wales. Promoting her latest book, Who Could Ever Love You, a scathing memoir about the Trump family legacy, Mary Trump told the audience she is now estranged from nearly all her relatives, calling herself “the black sheep of the family.” The only exception, she said, is her daughter. Mary, daughter of Donald Trump’s late older brother Fred Trump Jr., painted a bleak portrait…

A Carmarthenshire farmer who admitted to stealing over 70 pregnant sheep from a neighbouring farm has been handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to theft. Hywel Williams, 40, of Llangadog, took at least 73 in-lamb ewes in March from land owned by fellow farmer Rhodri Llyr Evans near Llandysul. The theft, which Williams attributed to overwhelming financial stress, caused what Evans described as “unbearable stress” to both his livelihood and personal life. The stolen sheep were later recovered by Dyfed-Powys Police following a public appeal, which was widely shared, garnering more than 700 shares online. The animals…

The world is mourning the loss of celebrated Kenyan author, playwright, and academic Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who passed away on Wednesday morning, 28th May 2025, at the age of 87. The news was confirmed by his family in a heartfelt statement released by his daughter, Wanjiku wa Ngugi. “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o,” the statement read. “He lived a full life, fought a good fight. As was his last wish, let’s celebrate his life and his work. Rîa ratha na rîa thûa. Tûrî aira!” Tributes have poured in…

Tesla CEO and the main driver of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk has spoken out against President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful” spending bill.

Abortion services in Missouri have come to an abrupt halt once again after the state’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a lower court used the wrong legal standard in allowing the procedure to resume. The two-page ruling from the Missouri Supreme Court directed Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang to vacate her earlier orders, which had temporarily blocked enforcement of the state’s sweeping abortion restrictions. The justices said Zhang’s rationale, that abortion rights advocates were likely to win their case, was not sufficient to allow the procedures to continue during litigation. Instead, the high court said she must first weigh the potential…